Margery followed as Ainsley skipped into the spacious kitchen of the Twin Peaks Inn.

“Aunt Rose!” Ainsley squealed, throwing herself into Rose’s arms. “Happy Thanksgiving!”

Rose laughed and hugged Ainsley back.

“You came just in time,” Rose told Margery with a grin. “I’m drowning over here.”

“How many guests are there?” Margery asked, hanging her coat and scarf on a hook and motioning for Ainsley to do the same.

“We have ten guests. You and Ainsley make twelve. Then there’s me, Danny, Luke, Jill, and Niyol, so seventeen people total.”

“Oh, you can handle that, Rose. You just want me to do all the work for you, just like in school.”

Rose stuck her tongue out at Margery, and both women laughed.

“What about Roger?” Margery asked. “He isn’t coming?” Roger was Luke’s best friend, and they rarely spent a holiday apart.

“I don’t know, actually, but it might be too soon,” Rose answered in a whisper.

Margery nodded. She had forgotten about the drama of the past spring—although how that had slipped her mind, she didn’t know. Luke and Roger had fought over Jill like two dogs with a bone. Or maybe more like two wolves with a rabbit.

In any case, Jill had felt understandably overwhelmed, and she had run off to the woods to think on the whole situation and had gotten caught in a forest fire. Since both Roger and Luke were firefighters, they had helped rescue her.

Jill had made her choice soon after, breaking Roger’s heart. Not that there was really a way out of that kind of situation without someone getting their heart broken. Roger had stood beside Luke as his best man at the wedding, but the two men had drifted apart over the past few months. Margery hoped they could put it all aside in time for the holidays, but only time would tell.

“So, plan for eighteen,” she clarified. “But there may only be seventeen?”

Rose nodded.

The two women got to work on the Thanksgiving food while Ainsley sketched at the table. A half hour later, Niyol and Luke burst into the kitchen with Roger in tow, the third man looking a little conflicted but overall happy to be there.

“Look who we found outside,” Niyol said, grunting as Ainsley launched herself at him.

“Niyol!” she squeaked. “Look at my medal from the pageant. Isn’t it pretty?”

She showed him a small gold medal with the words “Best Actress” embossed on the front. Ainsley had won the award yesterday at school and had talked non-stop about showing it to Niyol.

Margery smiled. After their date at the skating rink, she and Niyol had seen each other almost every night. He had patiently helped Ainsley with all her lines for the pageant, teaching her about Native American culture and history the whole time. Ainsley had hung on his every word, convinced he was a great “Indian warrior” that saved princesses and battled monsters. Margery had rolled her eyes at that, but Niyol had taken the young girl’s fantastic imaginings in stride. Ainsley was quite the storyteller and had a wild and active imagination. Since it didn’t seem to bother Niyol, Margery had let it go, happy that the two were building a good relationship.

Niyol took the medal from Ainsley, giving her a huge grin. “I’m so proud of you!”

Ainsley beamed, her whole face lighting up.

“Dinner is almost ready,” Rose called. “Hi, Roger,” she added. “Someone go get Jill and tell the others. The rest of you, take your seats.”

Luke rushed off to get Jill and Danny who was rounding up the guests. Soon, everyone was sitting around the big kitchen table talking and laughing over the food Margery and Rose had worked so hard on. Ainsley was busy telling everyone who would listen about the first Thanksgiving while Luke, Roger, and Danny argued about the football game. Rose was deep in conversation with Jill and one of the guests. Margery looked at Niyol and smiled, and he reached under the table and grabbed her hand, squeezing it.

After dinner, the boys offered to take Ainsley outside to play football and invited the guests to join in if they wished. Ainsley plastered herself to Niyol who threw a questioning look at Margery.

“Go on and play,” she said, grinning. “Rose and I will look after Jill and clean up before dessert.”

Niyol smiled and allowed Ainsley to pull him outside to play. They played a game of backyard football, Niyol insisting on touch instead of tackle due to their youngest player and the guests. Danny, Luke, and Roger agreed, and the game was underway, everyone laughing as Ainsley danced out of everyone’s reach, quick as lightning. They had been playing for an hour when Rose ran out of the house in a panic, and the game stopped immediately. Her face was pale as she beckoned Niyol and Luke over, Roger and Danny following close behind.

“Something’s wrong with Jill,” she breathed, motioning for them to follow her. Niyol and Luke ran after her while Danny scooped up Ainsley and explained the situation to the other guests before he and Roger followed the others into the house.

Niyol’s heart stopped as he looked at Jill. She was pale and shaking, but he couldn’t see any outward signs of injury which meant it had to be the babies.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his voice sharp.

Rose took Ainsley from Danny and led her to the far end of the table, plying her with crayons and paper.

“She’s having a little bleeding,” Margery whispered so that only the four men could hear. “She needs to go to the hospital to get checked out.”

Nodding, Luke grabbed his keys and coat from the hook on the wall.

“I’d like to change first,” Jill muttered, and Luke wordlessly led her upstairs. Niyol’s worried gaze followed them until they were out of sight.

“She’ll be okay,” Margery said, slipping her hand into Niyol’s to comfort him.

“You don’t know that,” he snapped, pulling his hand out of hers.

Margery looked hurt but said nothing. Niyol felt a little guilty at his reaction, but he couldn’t focus on that now. Of course, he wasn’t mad at Margery but at himself for being outside enjoying himself while Jill was in here bleeding. He should have been with her; he had to be the worst father in the world.

“Are you going to be okay?” Margery murmured.

“I’m fine. Why don’t you stop worrying about me and just worry about Jill?”

Before Margery could answer him, Jill came back down the stairs with Luke and searched the room full of faces until her gaze lit on Margery. “Margery? Will you come with me?”

“Of course,” Margery said, glancing at Niyol.

When he didn’t say anything, Rose stepped forward. “I’ll keep an eye on Ainsley for you. Keep me posted about what’s going on.”

Margery nodded and, pulling on her coat, helped Luke guide Jill to his truck.

Danny and Roger bustled around the kitchen, helping with clean up. Rose eyed them for a moment before leaning down to speak to Ainsley.

“Ainsley, can you stay here and color for a few minutes? I need to speak with Niyol.”

Ainsley nodded, oblivious to the drama and tension around her.

Rose turned and, glaring pointedly at Niyol, marched him into the empty sitting room. She whirled around to face him.  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?” Niyol asked defensively.

“You were as cold as ice to Margery when all she was trying to do was help.”

Niyol grimaced and avoided Rose’s gaze.

“Out with it, Niyol. What is going on? Why on earth are you mad at Margery?”

“I’m not mad at Margery,” Niyol snapped. “I’m mad at myself for not being there for Jill when she started bleeding.”

After saying it out loud, Niyol realized how stupid he sounded. He’d had no way of knowing Jill would start bleeding, and even Luke had been outside playing football.

“Luke was outside playing football,” Rose said, echoing his thoughts. “Does that make him a bad husband because he wasn’t there?”

“Of course not,” Niyol replied, shifting uncomfortably.

“Then why would you feel any guilt at all? Do you think Jill would be upset about you playing with Ainsley? Is that it? If she had a problem with your relationship with either Ainsley or Margery, do you think she would have asked Margery to come with her to the hospital?”

“I don’t know,” Niyol answered, feeling even more stupid.

“She wouldn’t. This guilt is coming from you and no one else. You can either let it go, or you can let it destroy the rest of your life. It’s up to you.”

Niyol studied Rose’s angry face, realizing her words were true. He had been an ass, treating Margery like that when all she had ever done was try to help him and Jill. All Margery had ever done was make him and his daughter happy, and he had treated her horribly.

He thought about how it would feel if he lost Margery because of his own stupidity, and the pain of that thought was almost more than he could bear. It hit him suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, that he loved Margery. He didn’t want to lose her. He couldn’t lose Margery.

With a groan of frustration, he swiped his hands over his face. “I need to go after them.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Rose said, tossing his keys at him.

Niyol caught them easily, and, throwing a grateful look at Rose, he strode out the front door. He prayed there was still time to fix things.

Rose watched him go with a smug look on her face before turning back to the kitchen to make sure those bumbling boys didn’t break her good china.